<a href="http://news.sjvc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/WONG.png"><img class="alignleft wp-image-713 size-thumbnail" title="WONG" src="http://news.sjvc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/WONG-290x216.png" width="290" height="216" /></a>“Always be open to changes and accept the differences of a company or person. Be open to jumping in on opportunities like internships, because you never know where it could bring you.”

This is the advice Business Administration student Jennifer Wong gives students after completing an internship with <a href="http://www.sjvc.edu/" target="_blank">SJVC</a> SIFE and Sam’s Club of Ontario.

Jennifer participated in an intensive ten-week program at Sam’s Club (a membership-only retail warehouse club owned and operated by Walmart Stores, Inc.) during which she worked and studied full time with the management and staff across all departments. At the conclusion of the internship, Jennifer was required to give a report and present it to judges.

The judges included SIFE advisors Maryann Sebelist, SJVC Rancho Cucamonga and Dr. Ghazzawi, University of LaVerne, as well as senior and regional management from Sam’s Club.

Jennifer wowed the judges with her final project, focusing her presentation on customer and employee concerns. Her above-par performance for these judges landed her a spot in Sam’s Club’s Manager In Training (MIT) program post graduation. This program will dive deeper into the concepts she learned during her internship, preparing her for a permanent role as a Sam’s Club manager.

As an intern, Jennifer’s primary responsibility was to observe the overall function of the warehouse. She shadowed managers and team leads of all departments and assisted with simple tasks around the warehouse.

“Even though the objective was to shadow a manager or a team lead, I took the initiative to take on a role as a manager,” explained Jennifer. “Some days I would walk around and make sure members are finding everything all right or even supervise the checkout.”

The extra steps she took did not go unnoticed. All the store managers and many corporate employees were incredibly impressed by Jennifer’s skills.

This type of work is nothing new for Jennifer. She grew up around grocery retail and a warehouse setting so the “everyday chaos” was normal to her. However, she has now learned what it takes to coordinate all efforts - and that there is more to it than just paying vendors for what they give the store.

“I learned a lot about working with a diverse group of people. You have to learn to be one with your associates regardless of your position.”

Jennifer believes that communication was key to having a supportive and successful team of workers.

“Sam’s club has a great and powerful culture that I’m sure if we all adopt it, would better not only ourselves but the people around us.”